The Culture of Food
When I was in college, I had a really fascinating class on Food and Culture in America. We studied immigrant cultures and their foods. Then once a week we worked in the "lab" (a room with multiple kitchen areas) in groups preparing menu selections from the various cultures we had studied. It was so much fun! The idea was that if we are required to provide medical nutrition therapy to individuals from other cultures, we would need insight into how they eat at home.
One of our assignments was to research our own family culture. What foods were passed down from parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts etc.? I interviewed my mother (both sets of grandparents passed when I was young). I learned where some of our family recipes came from.
Like most families, we had our traditional foods and family favorites. We always ate dinner at the table (always at 5:30!), and most of our meals were made “from scratch”, including some of our breads and desserts. We had a large family table, as I have 8 siblings. Holiday meals and family cook-outs are some of my fondest childhood memories.
For many years, my mother had a tremendous organic garden. I remember crawling through the “forest” of vegetables, crunching fresh beans, cucumbers and corn right off the plants. I also remember her working all day in the hot kitchen, carefully preserving all that freshness.
Another of my favorite memories is the baking – such sweet memories of rolling-pins and dough, sweet cookies and cakes. Rhubarb pie! Who would imagine a vegetable could make a sweet dessert?!
Both of my parents are now deceased, but I became the keeper of the recipes. I have my mother's file box of index card recipes - all properly labeled and filed. Some are neatly hand-written, many are typed. There is a binder with loose recipe scraps and newspaper clippings of recipes she had tried over the years, (I suppose these were not good enough to make it into the recipe box?)
My favorite thing is her very old edition of "The American Woman Cookbook Wartime Edition, With Victory Substitutes and Economical Recipes for Delicious Wartime Meals." 1944 Edition. It has gorgeous illustrations of beautifully presented family meals, appetizers, deserts, beverages, you name it. It begins with an introduction to basic nutrition, which is still sensible today, despite all the diet and nutrition fads between then and now.
It is exciting for me to feel the connection as I teach my children to bake, using the same red-handled wooden rolling pin that my mother used with me so long ago. I am proud to say my eleven-year old son is quite the baker, and I can see the joy and self-confidence it gives him, knowing he can take some simple ingredients and create something tasty for others.
Thinking of all the families rushing from one activity to another, eating on the run, always utilizing our modern “convenience foods” and missing out on all those special moments of taking in a good, made from scratch, wholesome meal, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am grateful to my mother and all that she taught, modeled and shared with me. I am grateful to know the importance of quiet and peaceful meals with my family; the satisfaction of creating the meal, the joy of sharing it. I am grateful for the time and memories I am passing on to my own children. I am hopeful that they too will take the time to cook and bake and eat slow, wholesome meals together with their families in the future.
Here are a few of my mother’s recipes. I would love to hear from you - share your special family recipes and the story that belongs with them.
Corn Chowder
Olive oil
Diced ham (or bacon)
Onion
Potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
water
Cream style corn (I use canned)
Milk or cream
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Heat oil in the pan on medium heat.
Add onions, cook until translucent
Add ham and heat
Add chopped potatoes and just enough water to cover the potatoes
Cook until the potatoes are tender, turning heat down to low.
Add creamed corn, salt, pepper and paprika to taste
Add the milk or cream at the end, heat through.
I usually serve garnished with a sprinkle of pepper and paprika.
I don’t use measurements, since it all depends on how much I want to make (a big batch, or little?) and/or how much ingredients I have on hand.
Spinach Pie
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained well. I usually place my spinach in a colander and squeeze the excess water out. Fresh steamed spinach can be used as well.
1 cup cottage cheese
3 eggs, beaten lightly
2 Tbs. cornstarch
Salt, pepper, paprika
Pie crust (sorry, I use the frozen prepared)
1 cup of your favorite cheese, shredded
After removing excess water from the spinach mix everything into a bowl, pour into pie crust, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Check to see if the middle has “set” (is firm). Sometimes the baking time is longer, depending on how much water has been removed from the spinach.
When you take it out of the oven, add your favorite shredded cheese (we use cheddar) while it is still hot. (The cheese melts and tastes delicious).
Grandpa's Bar B Q Sauce
I have only made this once, and it was tough because mom’s measurements were not precise. She uses “small” and “large” sized containers, but we have a lot more variety in sizes today than when she originally wrote this recipe down years and years ago. Funny how written recipes come into being. This one was concocted from my mother’s father, a Florida native.
1/3 cup oil
2 medium onions, chopped
Fry until done, lower heat
1 large bottle ketchup
1/2 bottle Worcestershire (small)
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup vinegar
tsp. salt
tsp. pepper
Cup of sugar
Hot sauce to taste
Simmer 15 minutes, remove from heat, add 1/2 small jar mustard
Used on pulled pork or beef
When I was in college, I had a really fascinating class on Food and Culture in America. We studied immigrant cultures and their foods. Then once a week we worked in the "lab" (a room with multiple kitchen areas) in groups preparing menu selections from the various cultures we had studied. It was so much fun! The idea was that if we are required to provide medical nutrition therapy to individuals from other cultures, we would need insight into how they eat at home.
One of our assignments was to research our own family culture. What foods were passed down from parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts etc.? I interviewed my mother (both sets of grandparents passed when I was young). I learned where some of our family recipes came from.
Like most families, we had our traditional foods and family favorites. We always ate dinner at the table (always at 5:30!), and most of our meals were made “from scratch”, including some of our breads and desserts. We had a large family table, as I have 8 siblings. Holiday meals and family cook-outs are some of my fondest childhood memories.
For many years, my mother had a tremendous organic garden. I remember crawling through the “forest” of vegetables, crunching fresh beans, cucumbers and corn right off the plants. I also remember her working all day in the hot kitchen, carefully preserving all that freshness.
Another of my favorite memories is the baking – such sweet memories of rolling-pins and dough, sweet cookies and cakes. Rhubarb pie! Who would imagine a vegetable could make a sweet dessert?!
Both of my parents are now deceased, but I became the keeper of the recipes. I have my mother's file box of index card recipes - all properly labeled and filed. Some are neatly hand-written, many are typed. There is a binder with loose recipe scraps and newspaper clippings of recipes she had tried over the years, (I suppose these were not good enough to make it into the recipe box?)
My favorite thing is her very old edition of "The American Woman Cookbook Wartime Edition, With Victory Substitutes and Economical Recipes for Delicious Wartime Meals." 1944 Edition. It has gorgeous illustrations of beautifully presented family meals, appetizers, deserts, beverages, you name it. It begins with an introduction to basic nutrition, which is still sensible today, despite all the diet and nutrition fads between then and now.
It is exciting for me to feel the connection as I teach my children to bake, using the same red-handled wooden rolling pin that my mother used with me so long ago. I am proud to say my eleven-year old son is quite the baker, and I can see the joy and self-confidence it gives him, knowing he can take some simple ingredients and create something tasty for others.
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| Alina and Sita baking cookies for Santa. |
Thinking of all the families rushing from one activity to another, eating on the run, always utilizing our modern “convenience foods” and missing out on all those special moments of taking in a good, made from scratch, wholesome meal, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am grateful to my mother and all that she taught, modeled and shared with me. I am grateful to know the importance of quiet and peaceful meals with my family; the satisfaction of creating the meal, the joy of sharing it. I am grateful for the time and memories I am passing on to my own children. I am hopeful that they too will take the time to cook and bake and eat slow, wholesome meals together with their families in the future.
Here are a few of my mother’s recipes. I would love to hear from you - share your special family recipes and the story that belongs with them.
Corn Chowder
Olive oil
Diced ham (or bacon)
Onion
Potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
water
Cream style corn (I use canned)
Milk or cream
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Heat oil in the pan on medium heat.
Add onions, cook until translucent
Add ham and heat
Add chopped potatoes and just enough water to cover the potatoes
Cook until the potatoes are tender, turning heat down to low.
Add creamed corn, salt, pepper and paprika to taste
Add the milk or cream at the end, heat through.
I usually serve garnished with a sprinkle of pepper and paprika.
I don’t use measurements, since it all depends on how much I want to make (a big batch, or little?) and/or how much ingredients I have on hand.
Spinach Pie
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained well. I usually place my spinach in a colander and squeeze the excess water out. Fresh steamed spinach can be used as well.
1 cup cottage cheese
3 eggs, beaten lightly
2 Tbs. cornstarch
Salt, pepper, paprika
Pie crust (sorry, I use the frozen prepared)
1 cup of your favorite cheese, shredded
After removing excess water from the spinach mix everything into a bowl, pour into pie crust, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Check to see if the middle has “set” (is firm). Sometimes the baking time is longer, depending on how much water has been removed from the spinach.
When you take it out of the oven, add your favorite shredded cheese (we use cheddar) while it is still hot. (The cheese melts and tastes delicious).
Grandpa's Bar B Q Sauce
I have only made this once, and it was tough because mom’s measurements were not precise. She uses “small” and “large” sized containers, but we have a lot more variety in sizes today than when she originally wrote this recipe down years and years ago. Funny how written recipes come into being. This one was concocted from my mother’s father, a Florida native.
1/3 cup oil
2 medium onions, chopped
Fry until done, lower heat
1 large bottle ketchup
1/2 bottle Worcestershire (small)
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup vinegar
tsp. salt
tsp. pepper
Cup of sugar
Hot sauce to taste
Simmer 15 minutes, remove from heat, add 1/2 small jar mustard
Used on pulled pork or beef
Thanks for reading, and feel free to share!
Michelle
